Was Obama a law professor?

January 26, 2012|Steve Chapman

In my column today, I say that Barack Obama was a "law professor," eliciting objections from some readers who say he was not. On this, I defer to the University of Chicago, which says unequivocally that he was.

For 12 years, Obama had the title of Senior Lecturer at the law school, and the U of C says: "Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School's Senior Lecturers has high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined." (my emphasis)

The university is entitled to make the determination, and I'm obligated to respect its decision.